How Word and Excel Files become Non-Editable?

This error is not limited to the excel file, MS Word users are also facing File is locked for editing/in use error message.

There are lots of causes that can trigger this type of error and prevent the user from editing excel or word file.

If you haven’t quit the excel file properly then excel application becomes unable to delete the owner file and hence when user tries to open/edit excel file then they get “The document is locked for editing by another user” error message.

If the excel file a Word file saved on the server then it is possible that the same file is getting used by another person at the same time.

Microsoft’s office creates a temporary ownership file for their Excel and Word, this file is present in the location of the document, having “~$” followed by the name of the file. For Example: The filename of “myfile.doc” will have an ownership file name “~$myfile.doc”, both the files are created on newmisserver\public.

The file also contains the name of the owner who is currently editing the document. You can see the file on newmisserver\public from a computer, but on a Mac, you can’t see this file.

Common Causes of “The document is locked for editing by another user” Error

There are various causes that can trigger this type of error, some of the common reasons of this error are as follows:

The second request of excel file is active in the background with the doc already open.

The excel doc is shared over a network, and used by any other user.

Sometimes you may also get the error message saying that: “File in Use – {filename] is locked for editing by {username}. Open Read-Only” or click “Notify to receive notification when the document is no longer in use.”

How to Fix Microsoft Excel File locked for Editing?

In order to solve this issue, we will disconnect the user from the file and allow another user to get the complete accessibility, follow the below given step:

Step 1: First you have to note down the path to the file, and the file name.

Step 2: Open the run dialogue box, press the Windows Key + R from your keyboard to open up the Run dialog box.

Step 3: In the run dialogue box, type “mmc” and then hit the Enter key to open up the “Microsoft Management Console“.

Step 4: Choose the “File” > “Add/Remove Snap-in“.

Step 5: From the list of “Available snap-ins”, choose the “Shared Folders” and then choose “Add” to add it to the “Selected snap-ins” list.

Step 6: Another box will appear asking you to “Select the computer you want the snap-in to manage“. In case you are logged in on the server where the contaminated Excel file is present, then select “Local computer”. But if you are using a different system, then select the “Another computer”, then type the server where the Excel file stored.

Step 7: Now, in the view section, choose the “Open Files“.

Step 8: Choose the “OK“

Step 9: Click on the “Open Files” to expand it.

Step 10: You can sort the entire list according to your need and then search the file in the list. After it, right-click the file and, select “Close Open File”

Conclusion

If you are fixed this issue with the help of above-given steps then OK, but if you are still unable to fix this issue or unable to follow the below-given steps due to lack of knowledge then you can go with the automatic solution to repair MS Excel errors.

Download and install the Excel Repair Tool, and fix excel editing issue with ease. This tool is very simple to use as you don’t need any professional skill to perform excel recovery. It is recommended to apply this tool once and make your excel file error free without doing anything manually. If you have any query related to the excel file then kindly contact us @ http://ask.repairmsexcel.com